During its pre-IFA press conference earlier today, Samsung officially announced the new Galaxy Note II confirming all the specs that have been rumoured for quite some time. The new 5.5-inch is based on Samsung's own Exynos 4 Quad chipset with quad-core CPU and will feature a new and redesigned S-Pen.

The new Samsung Galaxy Note II is, as expected, built around a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED screen with 1280x720 and powered by Samsung's own Exynos 4 Quad chipset. It runs on a quad-core CPU clocked at 1.6GHz, has 2GB of RAM memory and will be available in 16, 32 and 64GB storage options expandable by microSD card slot.

The design of the new Galaxy Note II borrows a lot from Samsung's flagship, the Galaxy S III and is actually thinner than its predecessor at 9.4mm. The exact dimensions are set at 80.5x151.1x9.4 mm and it weighs 180 grams. It will support both 4G LTE and HSPA+ 3G, run on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS, have rear 8MP auto-focus camera with LED flash and from 1.9MP one, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0 Host, 802.11bgn WiFi, NFC and 3100mAh battery.

As noted, Samsung has actually redesigned the S-Pen which is now longer, thicker and ergonomically designed for the perfect grip, according to Samsung. With dedicated S-Pen button it recognizes what the user wants to clip or edit and includes features like Easy Clip, Idea Visualizer, Air View, Screen Recorder and Quick Command.¸

Unfortunately, Samsung did not shed any details regarding the actual price of the new Galaxy Note II but did note that it is expected in Europe as of October, while worldwide availability should follow shortly.

According to a post over at GSMArena.com, it appears that the successor of the surprisingly successful Galaxy Note smartphone/table hybrid will inded feature a 5.5-inch screen.

GSMArena.com recieved a tip from a trusted insider source confirming a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED screen, as well as a designed that is apparently inspired by Samsung's current flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S III. It appears that although it has a larger screen, the new Galaxy Note 2 will actually be narrower than the original Note.

Samsung apparently moved the release date, from the previously rumoured October, forward to September. This decision obviously has a lot to do with Apple's iPhone 5 rumoured October release and Samsung is pushing for first-come, first-served.

Unfortunately, the rest of the rumours that include Exynos 5250 chipset with dual-core ARM-15 CPU, improved 8MP camera and memory amount are still unconfirmed rumours, but at least some info is coming out.